So I will admit he was sort of an impulse buy but as soon as I got home and put him in my tank I started doing my research. I would love to hear any input from anyone who knows about them or has one in their aquarium. He is in a 55gal tank right now with a couple tankmates and they don't bother eachother really. We have a piece of bogwood that he can easily climb onto to get out of the water but I have never seen him use it. He usually just swims up to the top of the water and gets a little bit of air about every 5 minutes. Is this okay? I'm scared he is going to drown or something, but he doesn't seem interested in coming out of the water in the place we provided for him. I had a couple more questions that I can't think of, I will post them later along with pictures. Also, he is eating blood worms and sinking carnivore and massivore pellets at the moment. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Just got a baby softshell turtle. A couple Q's
- Thread starter bahamaqt00
- Start date
most softshells hardly ever leave the water...i had one it grew realy realy slow...i ended up selling it...i found it in a dring out creek at 1.5" i sold it the next summer at 5"...i feed it worms and rosies...it didn't like bologna...that was my painted turtles favorite food...also they have really long necks and as adults they stick to shallows and don't even leave the bottom to get air...i found out how lond they were when i caught a 20" one when fishing...they can bite their tail streight back...i have been thinking of putting one in my trout tank, along with a mudpuppy...but now that i want to get one i don't catch any...
sbuse;4118455; said:
Thanks for the info. The only thing is he is in a 55gal standard footprint aquarium so the whole thing is full of water because he is in with fish as well. So he is like 2ft underwater so he can't just stick his neck up, he has to swim up to the top.
bahamaqt00;4118584; said:
just make a hang on the side shelf for it to sit on for ease on it, though it could make due like it is...
Softshells are great swimmers, so deep water isn't a problem. Just make sure there is an area where they can sit and breathe at the same time (such as a submerged part of the bogwood you mentioned). That way, if they get tired they can just rest and breathe easily, the only chance of it drowning in deep water would be if it had nothing to rest on near the surface.
Softies are mainly carnivorous, so feed some shrimps, bits of fish, bloodworm etc. Reptomin turtle sticks are my favourite pellet brand out there, they have Vitamin D3 in them and are eagerly eaten by both my slider and softshell.
Be careful of any rough decor in the tank. Playsand or riversand is a good substrate, and whilst I wouldn't risk using a fine grain substrate with other turtle species due to the risk of them eating it, softshells naturally bury themselves, it's part of their behaviour. Only downside is that you might not see yours all the time, especially while he is still settling into his new home.
Keep us updated,
Paul
Softies are mainly carnivorous, so feed some shrimps, bits of fish, bloodworm etc. Reptomin turtle sticks are my favourite pellet brand out there, they have Vitamin D3 in them and are eagerly eaten by both my slider and softshell.
Be careful of any rough decor in the tank. Playsand or riversand is a good substrate, and whilst I wouldn't risk using a fine grain substrate with other turtle species due to the risk of them eating it, softshells naturally bury themselves, it's part of their behaviour. Only downside is that you might not see yours all the time, especially while he is still settling into his new home.
Keep us updated,
Paul
Agreed 100%, also it is very important that you try to identify the species of your softy because some of this guys get way big and they need huge tanks to trive. Also avoid using any kind of feeder fish, there is no need to and it can make your turtle very sick or even kill it. keep the water very clean and in the the high 70s. What are the fish your keeping it with, chances are they wont last very long....paul112;4119694; said:
paul112;4119694; said:
Do you keep your slider and softshell together?
I have never kept softshells but find them very aggressive and have seen local canal softshell attack other softshells and chase them away.
